The ERP Was Controlled by a Direct Competitor. That Had to Change.
A leading commercial ice machine manufacturer had built its IT environment around a shared ERP platform it co-owned with a direct competitor. Getting out was not optional. It was just a matter of having the roadmap to do it right.
Industry: Commercial Foodservice Equipment Manufacturing
Size: Mid-market; global distribution network spanning 180+ domestic and international distributors and thousands of dealers
Ownership: Corporate subsidiary
Business Challenge
The most urgent problem was structural: the company's ERP platform was a shared instance, hosted and administered by a sister company that was also its direct competitor. This arrangement had originated from a previous merger plan that never materialized. Years later, the client remained dependent on the competitor for critical infrastructure decisions, support, and access. Every enhancement request, every configuration change, every data issue had to route through an organization with conflicting interests. The result was a backlog of unresolved needs and deep frustration across business and IT teams.
Beyond the ERP dependency, the company's IT function faced a broader set of capability gaps. The system landscape had grown to more than 80 applications, many of them spreadsheet-based workarounds created in response to limitations in the shared ERP. There was no formal project management capability despite a large and growing portfolio of technology and business initiatives. And information security policies, tools, and processes had not kept pace with the company's size or the evolving threat environment. Specific risks included:
ERP environment controlled by a direct competitor, limiting the company's ability to make independent technology decisions or improvements
Proliferation of mission-critical spreadsheets outside the ERP, creating data integrity risks and integration challenges across finance, supply chain, and customer operations
Single points of failure in application development; developers with no cross-trained backup and no formal coverage plan
No formal project or program management capability, despite operating a complex and growing portfolio of technology and business initiatives
Information security tools and policies with gaps in threat detection, data loss prevention, and incident response procedures
IT strategy and architecture decisions effectively frozen under a third-party-controlled environment with no independent roadmap
Our Approach and Solution
CIO Source conducted a comprehensive Technology Assessment and Strategic Roadmap engagement, interviewing 24 employees across all major business functions and evaluating the company's full IT environment: strategy, governance, application development, quality assurance, security, service desk, infrastructure, and organizational structure.
The 80-plus system inventory was assessed against a two-dimension scoring model: criticality to business operations and current readiness. The composite scores highlighted not just where problems existed, but which problems warranted immediate attention versus longer-term planning.
The ERP analysis received particular depth: CIO Source evaluated options for separating from the shared environment, assessed the viability of upgrading the existing platform versus migrating to an alternative, and provided a recommendation with sequenced next steps. Business system readiness across supply chain, customer support, engineering, finance, and marketing and sales were assessed with function-specific recommendations for each area.
What We Delivered
Full IT and business systems assessment covering 80+ applications across all major functional areas, scored for criticality and readiness
ERP separation analysis with options assessment and a recommended path to achieve independence from the shared competitor-controlled environment
IT capability assessment across seven domains (strategy, governance, development, QA, security, service desk, infrastructure) with maturity scores and targeted recommendations
Information security gap analysis identifying tool deficiencies, missing policies, and a prioritized set of remediation actions
Multi-year IT roadmap prioritizing ERP independence, IT capability development, security hardening, and reduction of spreadsheet-based workarounds
Business system recommendations across supply chain, engineering, marketing and sales, manufacturing, and customer support, with function-specific findings and sequenced improvement actions
Business Results & Outcomes
A clear mandate and path for ERP independence. The assessment confirmed that separation from the competitor-controlled ERP was the right call and provided the analysis, options, and sequencing needed to pursue it with confidence rather than guesswork.
Risk mapped and prioritized. The composite scoring model gave leadership a shared, fact-based view of where the greatest vulnerabilities existed across more than 80 systems and seven IT capability domains, enabling targeted investment rather than reactive firefighting.
Single points of failure identified and addressed. The critical developer dependency and absence of project management capability were surfaced with concrete remediation recommendations, giving the company a path to reduce fragility before those risks materialized.
Security posture elevated. The information security assessment provided a candid view of where tools and policies fell short of current standards, along with a prioritized remediation plan the company could act on with its existing team and budget.
Executive Takeaway
Sharing critical infrastructure with a competitor is an untenable position for any company. CIO Source gave this manufacturer the full picture of its technology environment, a credible ERP independence strategy, and the roadmap to rebuild IT capability on its own terms.